Mystaran Campaign: Keogh's Mine

There is a mine in the side of a hill near the village of Verge known as Keogh's Mine or the Mine. Keogh is a Dwarf who has been cutting a hole in the side of the hill for several decades on behalf of the Lord of Verge. The local lord sends a daily shipment of food out to the Mine and has them retrieve gems in payment. The PCs are instructed to wait at the mine entrance to hand over the food and retrieve the day shipment of gems before returning to Verge.

1- the entrance to the mine is dominated by a quarry cut face on the side of a hill with a tunnel entrance cut into it. The tunnel entrance id twenty feet above the surrounding landscape, but is accesses by a dirt and gravel rampart (1b) which overlooks a spoil tip (1a). A timber track ow wooden rails and sleepers (1c) extends from just above the spoils tip into the mine tunnel.

The spoils tip (1a) consists of a mix of rocks. The rock of the hill is a hardened clay with gravel through it. The PCs might each scrounge the spoils tip for 1d4 turns and on a successful wisdom check find a piece of Quartz(10gp) that went unnoticed by Keogh.

After two hours Keogh emerges pushing a timber flatbed stacked with large rocks. He then proceeds to crack the rocks with a hammer sorting gems from his collection of rocks.
20 Quartz (200gp) are found over the next two hours at which Keogh trades them for the day's food. He isnt particularly talkative until after he is done eating and drinking. At which he will answer questions about the Mine.

Keogh excavates a foot of tunnel per day. The tunnel is ten feet wide and high and given Keogh is a Dwarf, PCs might ask how he does it. His answer is 'top first' though this is deceptive as he has a magic ring of Hill Giant form which allows him to excavate the daily load of rock. The tunnel extends into the hill 800 feet and ends at a rockface.

The PCs are paid 1 gold piece each on their return with the sack of gems.